Comment on Why do we say, "when I look in the mirror" instead of "when I look in a mirror?"
CosmoNova@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Because no matter in what mirror you look, they‘re all the same. That‘s why we say the clock or the calendar. It‘s universal.
ALERT@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
how about “going to the doctor”? :D
CosmoNova@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
We say “the doctor” when talking about the concept of a doctor. We tend say “my doctor” and not “the doctor” when talking about what our respective doctor told us. Kind of like how we refer to the clock as “my clock” when we notice a difference to the universally accepted concept.
ALERT@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
so “a” is universal for clock, but “the” is universal for doctor :D